Resources on Conflict in Bodoland, Assam

1. Assam in the centrehttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/assam-in-the-centre/989232/
Despite protestations that it fights for the oppressed, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of Badruddin Ajmal openly promotes “Muslims for the rights of Muslims”. The success of that campaign and the AIUDF’s subsequent emergence as the main opposition party in the state have deepened the communal divide, pushing the Congress into an alliance with the Bodo People’s Front and drawing the contours of a complex and loaded situation. says Seema Chisti.

3. Riots & the bogey of Bangladeshishttp://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3738939.ece
Many Muslims from erstwhile East Bengal settled in Assam in early 20th century. But vested interests are out to prove that their descendants today are illegal migrants, says Banajit Hussain.

13. Violence in Bodo Areas: Deciphering The Causeshttp://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/ViolenceintheBodoAreas_NamrataGoswami_090912
The need of the hour therefore is to activate a clean and transparent record keeping of land by the state so that violence based on the fear of outsiders forcibly taking away the most precious commodity, land, is effectively averted, concludes Namrata Goswami.

15. Outbreak of violence in Mumbaihttp://twocircles.net/2012aug17/outbreak_violence_mumbai.html
Though it is not true that Bangladeshis are migrating in large numbers (this is largely the Sangh Parivar propaganda) by unfortunately Bodos, in order to fulfill their ambition of Bodo-land and for evicting Bengali Muslims and other ethnic communities from the 4 districts of Bodo Territorial Council, are using this propaganda for their own purposes, says Asghar Ali Engineer.

18. ‘Stateless’ remedy to illegal problemhttp://www.asianage.com/columnists/stateless-remedy-illegal-problem-829
Halfway through my tenure in Assam, Tarun Gogoi became the chief minister. He issued statements to the press about what he referred to as my constitutional impropriety in raking up Bangladeshi migrants’ issue, says S K Sinha, Ex Governor of Assam.

19. Why blood will flow in Assam againhttp://tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Ne180812Why.asp
The Assam riots were not the result of a sudden reaction, but an accumulation of years of anger and insecurity. Unless lessons are learnt, they will happen again.Ratnadip Choudhury and Avalok Langer report.

21. Assam:Demographic invasionhttp://bangladeshwatchdog.blogspot.in/2012/08/assam-demographic-invasion.html
The corrupt politics of vote banks and crass electoral calculi, to the manifest detriment of the national interest, must be defeated. India’s diversity can only be held together by the unity of law and of justice, not by the unprincipled horse-trading that governs politics today, concludes K P S Gill.

22. The Quickfix Syndromehttp://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?281844
Land is finite but political and economic benefits can be shared. Gogoi’s real test will lie in bringing leaders of the communities together to respect existing realities. Perhaps an SC-backed reconciliation effort, a process mandated by the court with appointed mediators, can have a role says Sanjoy Hazarika.

23. A Turf Warhttp://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?281788
The aftermath of the rioting in Assam has led to one of India’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 400,000 men, women and children living in nearly 300 ill-equipped relief camps , says Wasbir Hussain.

24. Assam riots and dilemma of the Indian secularistshttp://sevensisterspost.com/assam-riots-and-dilemma-of-the-indian-secularists/
As romanticism withseparatism fades away and the people of the Northeast gradually integrateto mainland India, the secularists from the mainland who do not understand the difference between “Narzary” and “Nazrul”, must not further contribute to the renewed marginalisation through narrow interpretation of secularism, concludes Suhas Chakma.

25. Dissecting the Bodo-Muslim Clashes and Attacks on North-East Peoplehttp://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article3665.html
Now the government will be engaged in Pakistan-bashing and soon the people of the North-East will be forgotten; not that anyone tried to understand their grievances even when they said their hearts went out to our “North-East citizens”, says Nandita Haskar.

27. Knowing us, knowing them.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/knowing-us-knowing-them/992264/0
The Assamese are conscious of non-northeastern variety. We have no trouble identifying the Bengali of Kolkata, who speaks a more ear-pleasing version of the language the migrants use at home. We know someone from the southern states is always a Madrasi. He is different from the desuwali, who speaks Hindi and goes on vacation to his des at the end of every 11 months, says Kabir Firaque.

29. Lasting Solution A Long Way Offhttp://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?282005
Former Assam chief minister and AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) President Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, though reluctant to get into the blame game (“it’s difficult to say or comment”), suggests dialogue is the only way to negotiate the minefield that is Assam today. He spoke to Uttam Sengupta.

36. Ethnic violence in Bodolandwww.epw.in/system/files/pdf/…/Ethnic_Violence_in_Bodoland.pdf
Ethnicity and identity have been the key issues of mobilisation in all of north-east India. The region has had a long history of being marginalised; its inclusion in the Indian nation is seriously challenged by communities; and identity politics has shaped the politics of resistance. The struggle for power, both political and economic, has thus become bloodied. What lies behind the recent violence in Assam? The failure of the Sixth Schedule to deliver, the contest over and and resources, the lack of development, and the fear of disempowered smaller groups are all tangled in the web of electoral politics of the ruling classes., says Suryasikha Pathak.

37. No sense of belonging.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/ColumnsOthers/No-sense-of-belonging/Article1-916329.aspx
The exodus underlines an uncomfortable truth: that many of the migrants feel either insecure or socially unaccepted in these urban centres, writes Sanjoy Hazarika.

42. The Assam Tangle http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-assam-tangle/993140/0
The recent violence in Kokrajhar and its spillover in other states reflect Assam’s unique problems- decades of insurgency, a porous border and territorial wrangles.Add to that government derelict, says Samudra Gupta Kashyap.

45. An unending tragedyhttp://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/903870.aspx
This has been ’s season of unending horror which began with a ferry mishap in lower followed by a devastating flood (it’s the first surge, three more are yet to come), the Guwahati molestation shame and now the riots in the Bodo areas, says Sanjoy Hazarika.

46. The Bloodlands of Assamhttp://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/assam-violence-ethnic-riots-tarun-gogoi-upa- government/1/211647.html
Besides administrative and intelligence inputs, the Chief Minister chose to disregard two reports from senior Congressmen who visited Kokrajhar after the July 6 killing of the two ABMSU leaders. On July 7, Kokrajhar district Congress chief Lohendra Basumatary and Assam Pradesh Congress Vice-President Y.L. Karna had pressed Gogoi to deploy paramilitary troops to pre-empt an escalation in violence, in vain says, Kaushik Deka and Asit Jolly.